We'd like you to know a little more about our
"home." Taiwan is an exciting and dynamic place to
live and minister.
Land Taiwan is an island off the coast of mainland China and was formerly known as Formosa. It is about 85 miles wide, and 200 miles long, and very mountainous. Only 25% of
the land is considered arable, and that is mostly a plain which runs the length
of the western coast, and where most of the population lives. The mountains rise to 13,000 feet above sea level, and despite the tropical to
subtropical location, have a deep layer of snow on their peaks in the
winter. There are beautiful beaches in the south, the north, and some other
areas, as well as spectacular cliffs that drop off into the sea along the north
coast.
Taiwan is very densely populated, with nearly 22 million
(almost the population of Canada) packed mostly along the western
plain of an island about the size of New Jersey.
History The original inhabitants of Taiwan were of Polynesian descent, but
Chinese began to come in increasing numbers from the 1300's. The Chinese Empire
considered it a protectorate in 1206, and made it a province in 1885. Except
for small Dutch and Spanish colonies for a brief period in the 1600's the only
other colonizers were the Japanese, from 1895 through the end of World War II
in 1945. The island was returned to China by the Allies, and the Chinese
Nationalist government moved to Taiwan in 1949 after a protracted civil
war on the mainland with the Communists.
Taiwan has become increasingly a democratic society,
especially since the mid-1980's. The economy has
developed very rapidly producing a high standard of living for its people.
Language The Mandarin dialect of Chinese is considered to be
the official language, and is the language of education. However, the mother
language of most of the population is the Fukien dialect, which is also called
Minnan or Taiwanese. A third dialect, Hakka, is also
spoken in some areas, and the small minority (2% of the population) which is of
Polynesian descent may speak a tribal language.
Religion
Traditional Chinese religion in Taiwan is an animistic mixture of Buddhism
and Taoism. Most Chinese follow some variant of this. Minority religions
include Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam, in that order.
Protestants are estimated to be about 2% of the population.
We'd like you to know a little more about our
"home." 
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